"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

The song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin related to several of the philosophical perspective that we have discussed this semester. The song begins with the following lyrics:

Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

 

 

Essentially, all of the lyrics in this entire song revolve around not worrying about anything that is happening in your life; just be happy no matter what. The main philosophical idea that I think this related to is the Epicurean philosophy. He is saying that you always need to seek to have a pleasurable state of mind and try and experience as much pleasure in your life as possible, while experiencing as little pain.

I also belief that this relates to wu wei from Dao De Jing. By living a life free of stress and worries, and always focusing on being happy, I feel that this would allow one to live a life in the world without excessive striving and stress, over-thinking, over-analyzing, or forcing thing.